As crazy goes, this Seahawks win may have topped them all

Published 10:00 pm, Sunday, September 26, 2010

The Seahawks in their 35 years must have had games that packed similar amounts of weirdness and wildness into a single afternoon.

Darned if I can remember one.

The 20 seconds wrapped around halftime Sunday at Qwest Field best captured the madness.

The Seahawks recovered a fumbled kickoff for a gift chance to go up 17-0, or at least 13-0, against a San Diego Chargers team that won 13 games last season.

Instead, the Seahawks went into intermission ahead just 10-0 after a mishandled little drive didn't even allow the field goal unit to get off an attempt.

"It was a bad feeling coming into halftime," said quarterback Matt Hasselbeck.

But on the first play of the second half, Leon Washington delivered the longest kickoff return in club history, 101 yards of "magic," according to coach Pete Carroll.

"It," said Hasselbeck, "felt better right away."

Then followed similar alternating waves of exhilaration and exasperation as the Seahawks and Chargers flailed. After the adrenaline evaporated, the Seahawks, who had half as many first downs and nearly half as many yards of total offense as the Chargers, ended up in front, 27-20.

How that happened will probably take a CSI team a full semester of gridiron forensics to explain. Carroll's best attempt to analyze it was calling the adventure "a theme of cooperation,'' referring to helpings of offense, defense, special teams and spectator audio.

It was a fairly lame description. But hey, the man won despite Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers shoving 455 passing yards in his grill, so he can say anything he wants.

"I can't imagine a stadium in this country crazier than those last couple of sequences," said Carroll. "Incredibly cool."

It wasn't truly chilled until about 10 seconds remained, when rookie cornerback Earl Thomas intercepted near the goal line Rivers' last attempt to tie the game. That's when the rock-concert reverb reached its crescendo, although after 3 1/2 hours, a fair amount of the noise was exhalation from exhaustion.

After a four-punt, no-point first quarter oozed into the second quarter that registered a 3-0 Seahawks lead into the 29th minute of play, there was little to indicate the rest of the afternoon was going to be all calliope music and no-net trapeze artists.

Most jaw-dropping was Washington following Magic One with Magic Two and another TD, this time in the fourth quarter for 99 yards -- the second-longest kickoff return in team annals.

"I couldn't believe," he said, "they were still kicking to me."

Nearly as unbelievable was Rivers' ability to move the Chargers' offense 20 yards a chunk, as well as the ability of his all-pro tight end, Antonio Gates, to be open 13 times despite the fact that every Seahawk player and most of their fans from Anchorage to Medford knew he would be the target.

Probably the most astonishing development of all is the fact that, despite giving up 518 yards of total offense and being on the field 36 minutes, the Seahawks defense actually did a helluva job.

Missing linebacker Aaron Curry, cornerback Marcus Trufant and lineman Brandon Mebane for large parts of the game due to injuries, the defense somehow countered with two interceptions, three fumbles recovered and four sacks of Rivers. Then there were the 11 penalties and 83 lost yards, some due directly to Big Blabby -- the largest 12th Man in the NFL.

"It's loud, and then it gets loud and then it gets louder when the game's on the line," said Chargers head coach Norv Turner, apparently having some echo problems himself. "We did everything we could to manage it."

Apparently not so much. Twice in the final six minutes trailing by the final score, the Chargers had first downs inside the Seahawks 20-yard line and came away with nothing. That was despite getting to throw against two rookies, Thomas and fourth-round draft pick Walter Thurmond, in the defensive backfield against the biggest, baddest receiving corps in the NFL.

"I don't think they've been hit (with turnovers) like that," said Seahawks safety Lawyer Milloy. "So you can focus on the 500 yards. I'm focusing on the win."

True enough. But it remains remarkable that the Seahawks won despite an offense that had a single touchdown drive, which began at midfield and was abetted by 33 yards in Chargers penalties.

"We probably made it harder on our defense at times," said Hasselbeck, who was, as usual, accepting prime responsibility for the mistakes; in the second quarter alone, the Seahawks failed to score on three possessions at the goal line, including an interception on a 50-yard attempt. "We'll take it, but we felt fortunate to come away with a win."

Indeed, the freak factor in this win, coupled with the unexpected face plant by the 49ers in the season opener, makes the Seahawks' 2-1 record difficult to parse between luck and skill.

But the Seahawks can make the argument that last season they had no luck and less skill. So whether it's cooperation, as Carroll suggested, the home-hollering advantage or the dubious dealings of the opponent, they are pointing in the general direction of up.